Monday, February 12, 2007

Kirby Always Rules

Sorry about the long delays between posts, folks. I've been very busy this year with a lot of freelance work, much of which I can't share or post, which has led to my blog looking a bit neglected lately. However, to make up for it, I thought I'd post this page I inked up for fun one afternoon.

As many of you can obviously tell, the original pencils were from a Thor comic book page, drawn by the legendary creator of Thor, Jack 'King' Kirby. Most people who know me know that I am one truely ga-ga Kirby fan (like thousands of other cartoonists!) and I, like many others, love to occasionally practice my inking over reproductions of his pencils. It's a comic-geeky thing, I know, but I'm not alone in doing so.

Previously, I've posted several other Kirby pages that I've inked on this blog. However, I thought I'd post this one, which was done a bit differently. Namely, I took some small liberties with the art and inked and toned it much like most of my own 2-colour work. It was done fairly quickly and for fun, without any attempt at real finesse, so it might look a bit rushed, but I was pretty happy with the results -- happy enough to share it here, anyway. I hope you'll like it too. The overall effect reminds me a bit of those old british marvel-comic reprints, which were sometimes printed in black and white with one spot colour -- usually red or blue. For comparison's sake, below is the original Kirby pencil art -- which I scanned in from a reproduction found in the excellent The Jack Kirby Collector magazine.

And as always, my thanks to Jack Kirby, who left behind such a wonderful body of work for artists like me to study and learn from. He was the best super-hero artist ever, folks. There will never be another like him.

Please note that I do not do accept any private commissions (comic character sketches, family portraits, etc). I also do not sell any prints of my work online. Sketches and prints can usually be purchased at events that I am personally attending. Thanks for your understanding.

Upcoming Appearances

I'm looking forward to making my first appearance at the Dartmouth Comic Arts Festival this year. Should be a fun time - I'll be doing sketches, selling some prints and trying to enjoy the maritime weather!